On Super Bowl Sunday, Netflix threw a deep ball that few other entertainment companies have ever attempted: it unveiled “The Cloverfield Paradox” and made the movie immediately available to watch.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

LOS ANGELES — On Super Bowl Sunday, Netflix threw a deep ball that few other entertainment companies have ever attempted. During and after the game, Netflix ran two commercials for “The Cloverfield Paradox,” the sequel to the 2008 low-budget hit “Cloverfield.” The film, produced by Star Wars and Star Trek director J.J. Abrams, was made by rival Paramount, which was due to release it in the spring. Instead, Netflix had snatched it up and made it available right after the football game and its marketing blitz. “History in the making,” tweeted the “Wrinkle in Time” director Ava DuVernay. “Gamechanger.”

The former Apple employee faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he's found guilty of the federal felony of theft of trade secrets from Apple.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

A Chinese engineer was boarding a flight from California to Beijing on July 7 when he was yanked off at the last minute by an FBI agent. It's not a spy movie — it's a real life story of trade secrets allegedly stolen from Apple, an American icon, for the purposes of potentially handing them to a small, relatively unknown Chinese company. Those secrets are related to self-driving cars, one of the hottest technologies in the world. Every major technology company is working on some project related to cars that drive themselves, but Apple's work in the space is particularly high-profile because of its secrecy and its reputation in Silicon Valley.

Kevin Carmichael: Beyond trade, the bigger story in decision is that most companies are responding to their order books rather than headlines in business pages

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

The Bank of Canada raised interest rates July 11 because Stephen Poloz’s tale about how the economy would recover from the Great Recession finally is coming true. Most everyone assumed the central bank would lift the benchmark rate a quarter point to 1.50 per cent. The few who didn’t thought policy makers would be spooked by what President Donald Trump has in store for global trade. On the eve of the interest-rate announcement, the U.S. escalated its trade war with China, scheduling tens of billions in additional tariffs.

Get caught up on Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump’s busy itineraries in Belgium, the U.K. and Finland this week

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

U.S. President Donald Trump brought a combative tone to the NATO summit in Brussels on Wednesday, accusing Germany of being “totally controlled” by Russia because of a pipeline project and berating U.S. allies for not spending enough on defence. German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed back, insisting that Germany makes its own decisions and drawing on her own background growing up in communist East Germany behind the Iron Curtain. At a testy breakfast meeting with NATO’s secretary-general, Mr. Trump reiterated myths about how NATO funding works, suggesting that member nations owe money to the United States for their defence costs.

The Pentagram partner, who recently redesigned MIT’s century-old Technology Review, weighs in with some tips.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

This month, the the 118-year old MIT Technology Review launches the first issue of its redesign, featuring a new visual identity and editorial look. The strategic overhaul of the print bimonthly, led by Pentagram partner Michael Bierut, offers important lessons in how to revamp a legacy brand at a time of rampant disruption. Founded in 1899 and published independently by MIT, the Review has rigorously examined and analyzed technology over the span of three centuries, even as that term “technology” itself has been vastly expanded and redefined from decade to decade.

The most exciting iPhone Apple will announce in September might not be the iPhone X2 or the iPhone X2 Plus, but the new entry-level 6.1-inch iPhone.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

As surely as the leaves will turn color, Apple will announce new iPhones this fall. Based on the flood of rumors and purported leaks hitting the internet daily, we're expecting three new iPhones. The 5.8-inch iPhone X will probably get a refresh of the internals with faster performance. And all signs suggest Apple will introduce a larger version, the "iPhone X Plus," with a 6.5-inch OLED screen. But the breakout hit might not be either of these premium devices, but a new entry-level iPhone with a 6.1-inch screen. There's no disputing the iPhone X is Apple's best smartphone to date.

For the nations of Latvia and Estonia, nestled between Russia and the Baltic Sea and with large ethnic Russian populations, NATO is no abstraction.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

RIGA, Latvia — Near midnight on the outskirts of the Latvian capital, close to 100,000 spectators joined 16,500 singers last week in a song about a mystical castle that is submerged when foreign powers hold sway only to rise again. The castle is a metaphor for their nation. The foreign powers? Well, from the 20th century, take your pick. First it was the Russians. Then the Germans. Then the Russians again. Only in the last quarter-century has Latvia been able to reclaim its nationhood, and only in the last decade has it felt secure in that claim.

HTC isn’t gone just yet. Granted, it’s closer than it’s ever been before, with a headcount of fewer than 5,000 employees worldwide — that’s down from 19,000 in 2013.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

But in spite of those “market competition, product mix, pricing, and recognized inventory write-downs,” the company’s still trucking on. And while its claim to being “the leading innovator in smart phone devices,” is up for debate, the Taiwanese manufacturer has never shied away from a compelling gimmick. Announced earlier this year, the Exodus definitely fits the bill. The “world’s first major blockchain phone” is still shrouded in mystery, though the company did reveal a couple of key details this week at RISE in Hong Kong intended to keep folks interested while it irons out the rest of the product’s hiccups.

Exclusive: Self-flying vehicle firms got $2m last year, as military envisions taxis as more Blade Runner than Back to the Future

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

Two start-ups leading the race to build the first self-flying taxis are using money from the US military. Last year, Kitty Hawk and Joby Aviation received a total of nearly $2m from the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), a Pentagon organization founded to help America’s military make faster use of emerging technologies. Neither company, nor the DIUx, disclosed the funding at the time. The website for Cora, Kitty Hawk’s experimental air taxi, emphasizes its role in solving urban transportation challenges: “Cora is about the time you could save soaring over traffic.

Facebook has been slapped with a £500,000 ($665,000) fine for the role it played in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the data of 87m users was harvested for political purposes.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

The data regulator found that the social network failed to safeguard users’ information and allowed people’s personal data to be harvested by others, constituting a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. Had the breach occurred after May this year, Facebook may have faced a far greater fine under the new data protection law, a maximum of 4pc of global turnover or €20m (£18m), whichever was highest. The penalty could be just the first in what might become several fines for Mark Zuckerberg as the Information Commissioner’s Office continues to investigate other aspects of Facebook’s data sharing

The Microsoft Surface Go is a $400 tablet with a $99 keyboard accessory, launching on August 2nd. It's super-light and super-tiny — and it's taking on the Apple MacBook and iPad at the same time.

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

Meet the Microsoft Surface Go, a teeny-tiny new 1.15-pound laptop/tablet hybrid with a 10-inch screen that can fit in a handbag, fanny pack, or maybe even a particularly deep pocket. Surface Go pricing starts at $400, but don't be fooled: Just as with the bigger, more powerful Surface Pro, you're going to want Microsoft's specially-made $99 keyboard cover to get the most out of the Surface Go. In other words, you're looking at $500, all-in, for the Surface Go setup you really want. You'll be able to buy it August 2nd.

The expenditure to save the boys and their coach must have been pretty large. The question is what's one life worth

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

In other cases the overtime and danger pay, if they were fully accounted for, would be enormous. Of course, all the volunteers — including the former Thai navy SEAL who died in the effort — donated this value. Both what the actual cost is and what a GoFundMe campaign would have brought in are, for now, guesswork. But in both cases “huge” seems a reasonable estimate. And with unique, identifiable human beings at risk, especially young ones with long lives in front of them, we all feel that’s perfectly reasonable. Now consider a GoFundMe campaign to put an air conditioner in the home of every Quebecer over the age of 50 so they will be less at risk during the province’s next severe heat wave.

The e-commerce giant plans to open the new fulfillment centre in the capital city’s eastern suburb of Orleans

Ronald Bannon MBA, C.Adm., FCMC's insight:

Amazon is expanding its footprint in Canada with a fulfilment centre in Ottawa that will create 600 full-time jobs. The e-commerce giant announced Tuesday that employees at the new warehouse in the capital city’s eastern suburb of Orleans will pick, pack and ship large items such as household decor, sporting equipment and gardening tools. The warehouse will be the company’s eighth in Canada, joining others in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and a technology hub in Vancouver that is undergoing an expansion. The Ottawa announcement came as Amazon is hunting for a home for its second North American headquarters, dubbed HQ2.

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